Hoping to capitalize on the increase of home surveillance cameras, Morris County police departments are asking residents and businesses to register and put their cameras to crime-fighting use.

The Denville Police Department has launched Virtual Crime Watch. Residents and businesses are asked to be included in a surveillance camera registry that can be accessed by police as a resource to solve crimes.

Currently, six security systems have been registered, but police are hoping more will sign up.

“This isn’t like Big Brother is watching,” said Capt. Keith Partin, reassuring residents the surveillance cameras will no be monitored. “This isn’t our information and we wouldn’t want it to be treated as such.”

A surveillance camera installed on a business on Butler's Main Street.(Photo11: Matt Fagan/NorthJersey.com)

The registry, Partin said, gives the department information that video from a specific area may exist.

As part of a crime investigation, the department will check the registry to see if cameras are installed in the neighborhood, Partin said. If there are cameras, " we will ask the owner, ‘Can you review your video between 5 and 6 p.m. and if it’s OK with you, could you provide us with a copy of that?’," he said.

In reviewing the video, officers will look for clues or recording of the suspect, Partin said.

The program in Denville is modeled after similar setups in Voorhees and Hanover Township, Partin said.

Hanover Township's program has been in place for about one year, said its Capt. Dave White.

Story continues after videos.

The point of it is to have eyes all over the area,” said White. “It’s almost like a neighborhood watch but an electronic version.”

Like Partin, who stressed the right to privacy, White said “police are not knocking doors down to go look at tape.”

“We ask, Do you mind if we view it?” said White.

All police departments interviewed said camera owners have the right to say no to police. Sgt. Heather Glogolich of Morris Township Police Department said instead of looking at these programs as giving authorities more power she sees them as creating a community resource.

It’s a resource that Morris Township Police Chief Mark DiCarlo said has been “extremely beneficial” in his town.

Cameras, indoor and out, extend the long arm of the law in new police programs that compile lists of businesses and homes with security systems.(Photo11: Courtesy of the Mahwah Police Department)

Most recently Glogolich said it came in handy about a week ago.

“We had theft of an Amazon package and due to security footage we were able to see the person really clearly and we were able to make an arrest on it,” she said.

Surveillance video is also helping in an investigation into a January shooting in the Collinsville section of town, Glogolich said.

“We have this on our YouTube channel. We posted video footage of a shooting that had occurred on Jersey Avenue,” said Glogolich. “It isn’t solved yet, it is an active case. But we have great footage of what happened so that is critical in our investigation.”

Glogolich said she could not go into more detail on the active case, but the three men who are suspects can be viewed in the video, which can also be found in the department’s Facebook newsfeed.

She offered advice to other departments implementing similar programs.

“The key to a good rollout is talking to a lot of people and getting it known that you were doing a program like this,” said Glogolich.

The departments have links on their webpages where residents can register their cameras. But in addition to that, Morris Township actively seeks participants.

“We advertise through the neighborhood watch programs and when we have community gatherings we hand out an informational sheet on how to sign up for the registry as well as other programs,” DiCarlo said.

Morris County police departments start to use security cameras as a tool for fighting crime.(Photo11: Courtesy of Belleville Police)

Morris Township police will also tell residents about the program if they happen to spot cameras while out on the beat. The chief said he also assigns officers to meet with business owners in town and request they register their cameras.

Glogolich said there is no cost to police departments.

“It is really just about building a relationship with our community,” she said.

A number of Passaic and Bergen police departments have instituted similar surveillance registry programs.